hat man could improve and better himself is a traditionally held belief. This idea tended to become obscured by the nineteenth-century theories of psychology which claimed otherwise – that we remain as we were born. More than that, psychology offered the novel – but utterly false – idea that man was only an animal and therefore could not improve his ability, could not improve his behavior and could not improve his intelligence.

Because of this, man in general now finds it rather hard to grasp the older and truer idea that man is a spirit and that he can reach for and attain higher states.

Yet betterment is a reality. Many higher states of existence are available to man, and these are attainable through Scientology. L. Ron Hubbard provided a precise delineation of these states, and then clarified how they could be attained by arranging them on a chart which graphically showed each step of the route upward.

Life is improved on a gradient. It is improved a little and then it is improved a little more and then a little more. It does not happen all at once. One cannot expect to be handed a totality of improvement in an instant, like being injected with a syringe that magically cures everything – unless of course one subscribes to the nonsensical idea that a living being has nothing to do with life. What is improved in Scientology is the individual and his awareness. It is not his body, his credit cards, his automobiles or other attendant and appendant machinery surrounding him. The individual himself is improved.

If one had a person with a very serious illness, his mind would be so thoroughly occupied with that condition that he could envision little more than recovery. If in this state someone were to propose the idea he might return to his job and play for the company football team within a week, it is doubtful he would even listen. When the pain subsided and he began to contemplate sitting up, this would be a substantial gain; after which he might even entertain the idea of going downstairs. But if at any point of improvement he were asked to consider the rigors of his job or the company team, it would constitute too big an improvement in too short a time.

Similarly, spiritual advance occurs a bit at a time and one cannot expect someone to immediately leap to the highest levels. The chart Mr. L. Ron Hubbard devised indicates not only attainable improvements, but also the proper progression, thus avoiding the inevitable setback when attempting to attain too much too soon. An orderly progression, one improvement at a time, as Mr. L. Ron Hubbard laid out, enables one to ascend at a satisfactory pace to a very high state indeed.

The chart which shows these gradations to betterment is called the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart of Levels and Certificates. It is divided into two sides – the left-hand side showing training steps one takes in Scientology, and the right-hand side showing the auditing steps.

Classification refers to training in Scientology and the fact that certain actions are required, or skills attained, before an individual is classified as an auditor at any particular level and allowed on to the next class.

Gradation refers to the gradual improvement that occurs in Scientology auditing. There are grades to a road and there are grades to steps. There can be shallow or steep steps, or even a vertical ascent, which is not a gradient. The desirable road is a gradual grade upward.

One’s awareness improves as one progresses in Scientology. By receiving both training and auditing, each equally necessary, one’s awareness increases. The levels of awareness are listed in the center of the chart and correspond precisely to one’s progress in training and progress in auditing.

Man, in his religious heritage, has long imagined a bridge across the chasm between where one is now and a higher plateau of existence. Unfortunately, many of those attempting to cross that chasm fell into the abyss.

Employing this metaphor, the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart represents, in fact, the bridge which spans the chasm and brings one to the higher plateau. This is the vision man has cherished for at least ten thousand years, and it is now attainable by following the steps as laid out on the chart. It is an exact route with standard procedures providing uniformly predictable gains when correctly applied. The bridge is complete and can be walked with certainty.

You can order free from the bookstore a copy of the chart showing the Bridge as developed by L. Ron Hubbard. This chart is intended to serve the reader as a helpful guide to Scientology services described in pages to follow. (Instructions for its use are provided on the chart itself and any unfamiliar term is explained in the glossary linked to this and other pages.) Running up the center of the chart is a series of awareness levels, numbered from -34 at the bottom to +21 at the top. These levels represent what the individual person is aware of in his or her life.

Everyone is somewhere on these levels of awareness. The goal of Scientology is to assist the individual to raise his awareness higher and higher. Each rise in awareness is accompanied by increased ability, intelligence and survival potential.

As one improves, one naturally becomes aware of the next step. A person in "unexistence" (-34 on the scale), for example, when he improves becomes aware of "disconnection." In other words, disconnection (-33 on the scale) is an improvement over no existence at all. In realizing that one is truly disconnected from life, he is at least now in a position to rectify that condition. And so it goes for each level of awareness. A person who has recognized that he is introverted (-11) can then and only then recognize that he is numb (-10 on the scale), and thus gets no reaction from life. As a person progresses up the scale, he becomes aware in turn of the next higher stage.

The chart, then, is a map of what one individual can become aware of. It is, however, important to note that the chart stresses one’s personal awareness, not what others may have observed about his behavior. Thus, again, we find that what matters is the individual, for that is what is addressed and improved.

At the level of "need of change" (-4) one is aware that he needs change in his life, and has actually reached quite a high state of awareness. Many people are not up to this level, and are therefore stuck in the unfortunate condition of wondering how they can endure that which they believe cannot be changed. Scientology is for the person who sincerely wants change, wants to become better and more able. Scientology thus helps the able to become more able.

As one moves up this bridge, he becomes a trained auditor and learns to help another as well as receive his own auditing. He achieves the state of Clear, advances to the highest levels of auditor training and the highest states of awareness as a spiritual being. The awareness levels are paralleled by the various techniques and activities which approximate them and bring about further improvements as one progresses.

As is evident from the chart, one must move up both sides, training and auditing, if one is to make it all the way. One must learn the axioms of existence by training in Scientology if one is to attain a higher awareness of life. One must experience how these axioms relate to himself through auditing if he is to fully understand himself and his relationship to life. Attempting to walk only one side of the Bridge is like trying to climb a hill by hopping on one leg. But an individual moving up both sides of this chart, one step after another, will arrive at the top.

The chart is a guide for the individual from his first awareness of Scientology to each higher state. Man has never before had such a map. It is the Bridge to Total Freedom. It is the route. It is exact and has a standard progression. One walks it and one becomes free.